Contained bodies of water where a person immerses himself or herself partly or wholly in the body of water can be found in swimming pools, spas, hot tubs, jetted tubs as well other containers. Generally, the person immerses his or her body partially or wholly in the body of water in order to obtain the effects of the water. In order to make the body of water safe for body contact it is necessary to kill harmful microorganisms in the water such as bacteria which can be done by dispensing antibacterial materials into the water. These type of water characteristics can be referred to as water safety characteristics. In addition, from time to time other water characteristics of the body of water, such as water comfort characteristics are adjusted. For example, the water temperature may be changed or in some cases the pH of the water may be adjusted sometimes both for safety purposes and for the comfort of the water user.
In general, a pump circulates the water in a container so as to provide a body of water with uniform water characteristics as well as to remove unwanted materials or debris from the water. During the circulation of the water dispensable materials such as minerals or other ion yielding materials can be controllable dispensed into the water through either inline dispensers or floating dispensers to control the microorganisms in the water. Other water characteristics such as a water temperature can be controlled by a heating or cooling the water as it flows through a heat transfer unit. In either case the water characteristics whether safety or comfort characteristics can be changed to make the water suitable and safe for the user.
While water characteristics in the containers have been periodically monitored and controlled by adding dispensable material to the water a feature of the present invention is that the water characteristics, such as water comfort characteristics and water safety characteristics, can be monitored and controlled on-the-go. This allows the water characteristics to be maintained within close ranges which can make a users recreational experience in the water not only more comfortable but also insure that the water does not contain harmful organisms.
A further feature of the invention is an analog control system that can smoothly and continuously control the dispensing rates without having to turn the dispensers on or off.
A further feature of the invention is a control system that can shut off the flow through the system.
A further feature of the inventions is a control system that can be operated in either of two modes.
A further feature of the present invention is that it is well suited to use with small recreational water systems such as pools, spas, hot tubs or the like either as an after market item in those systems have an existing circulation system it can be introduced during the manufacture of the pools, spas, hot tubs or the like.